2011 Year In Review: A season of highs and lows

The sun sets behind trainer Larry Jones and Havre de Grace hours after she joined Rachel Alexandra as the only females to win the Woodward in September.

Larry Jones got to be friendly with John Shirreffs a few years ago when the trainers had their horses stabled near one another the week of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. By the end of 2009, when Shirreffs trained Zenyatta to her popular victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita, and the following year, when Zenyatta came up just short in her quest to close an undefeated career in the Classic at Churchill Downs, Jones was on the sidelines. He first called it a retirement, but it turned out to be a sabbatical.

Zenyatta was retired at the end of 2010, around the time Jones decided to jump back in as a trainer. Owner Rick Porter, who had enjoyed a long, successful association with Jones, sent him a handful of horses, including Havre de Grace, who had closed her 2010 campaign with a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic for trainer Tony Dutrow.

Jones gave Havre de Grace a thorough examination in her stall when she first arrived in his barn at the beginning of this year. He was awestruck.

"She had the best heart I've found in any horse," Jones said. "She had the best throat system. She had good size. She had good conformation − not perfect, but nothing to complain about. I thought her potential was unlimited."

Jones then turned to his right-hand man, groom Corey York, and said, "This is gonna be our Zenyatta."

Like Zenyatta, Havre de Grace was given a chance to defeat males. She did it in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga but came up short in the Breeders' Cup Classic, finishing fourth. Her overall body of work may very well bring Havre de Grace the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year, which would put her on the same plateau as fellow females Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and Zenyatta in 2010. It would mark the first time in history that females won Horse of the Year three straight years.

But Havre de Grace's fourth-place finish in the Classic, while an unsatisfying final act to the year, was an appropriate symbol for 2011. More than any year in recent memory, this was a season where great hopes were dashed, where high promise more often than not led to crushing disappointment.

Blind Luck and Havre de Grace put on a show for the ages in the Delaware Handicap, but they never faced one another again. Blind Luck, a model of consistency and toughness throughout her career, ran just once more but never put forth any effort in the Lady's Secret and subsequently was retired.

The best older males also failed to complete their mission. Tizway was brilliant when he showed up, winning the Met Mile and Whitney, but his fragility limited him to four starts, and he failed to make it to the Breeders' Cup. In California, Acclamation put together a strong string of races, winning five in a row − three Grade 1's, on turf and synthetic − but he, too, went to the sidelines before the Breeders' Cup.

The great turf mare Goldikova did make it to the Breeders' Cup, but she failed in her quest for an unprecedented fourth straight victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile, finishing third despite wiping out a number of her rivals with an indelicate right-hand turn at the top of the stretch.

No, the horse who proved the most consistent in 2011 was the blue-collar runner Rapid Redux, a 5-year-old gelding who ran his record to 21 straight, 19 so far this calendar year, while beating up on lowly starter-allowance company in the mid-Atlantic region. While staying sound enough to win that many races is a terrific feat, there was some talk of supporting him for Horse of the Year, a fanciful notion that proves just how desperate people were to latch on to something − anything − this year.

There might not have been a more joyous scene than lanky 18-year-old jockey Joseph O'Brien, riding for his father, Aidan, and bringing home a victorious St Nicholas Abbey in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

After his namesake, Hansen, won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Dr. Kendall Hansen practically danced into the winner's circle, his friends and family chanting, "Han-sen, Han-sen," then got on his knees and kissed the ground.

In New York after a decade-long delay, hope sprang anew with the opening of a casino at Aqueduct, revenue from which was projected to cause a dramatic increase in purses in 2012.

Churchill Downs drew a record crowd of 164,858 to this year's Derby, survived a wicked tornado in June with, miraculously, no loss of life to people or horses, and for the second straight year put on a successful Breeders' Cup, an event that was expanded to 15 races for its 28th running.

Albarado suffered a broken nose and cuts the Wednesday of Derby week. After Albarado took off Thursday and Friday, Team Valor chief executive Barry Irwin replaced him on Animal Kingdom with Velazquez, who became available when Uncle Mo scratched. Albarado has never won the Derby.
That wasn't the only soap opera.

John Veitch was fired as the chief steward of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission following a tumultuous 12 months. That stretch included the controversial handling of Life At Ten before and immediately after her somnambulant effort in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, the decision to leave Goldikova in third following a rough stretch run of this year's Breeders' Cup Mile, and an error in posting the proper order of finish in a race in September at Kentucky Downs, which resulted in incorrect superfecta payoffs. Veitch has appealed the dismissal to the Kentucky Personnel Board. On Dec. 14, a Kentucky report based on hearings last summer recommended a one-year suspension of Veitch's license for violating several racing regulations in the Life At Ten incident.

The process of turning Monmouth Park from state to private ownership took new twists and turns with the machinations of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his minions.

The stagnant economy contributed to an ongoing downturn in overall handle, and though there was a continuing contraction of the foal crop, there were glimmers of hope at the major sales that the bloodstock market was beginning to rebound.

Proof of that was Royal Delta, but her sale was necessitated by the death of her owner, Prince Saud bin Khalid, who raced as Palides Investments. Several other prominent racing figures died, notably Jess Jackson, who raced Rachel Alexandra and Curlin, who were responsible for three consecutive Horse of the Year titles from 2007-2009.

John Sosby, for years the farm manager at Claiborne Farm, died, but his distinctive Southern drawl still captivates those who watch "The Greatest Race" in the Kentucky Derby Museum. Robert Green, who managed Elmendorf and Greentree, also passed.

Elliott Burch and Carl Hanford, trainers whose body of work put them in the Hall of Fame, both died this year, as did trainers Nancy Alberts, Diane Carpenter, Pete Ferriola, Thomas Heard Jr., Bob Holthus, Dominic Imprescia, and Larry Sterling.

Cot Campbell, who has steered Dogwood Stables for four decades, eased into what he called "semi-retirement," while jockey Patrick Valenzuela and trainer Ramon "Mike" Hernandez also stepped away from the game.

Terry Wallace, who called 20,191 consecutive races at Oaklawn Park, also retired after his 37th season at the Arkansas track. But Wallace went out seeing the best, with his final two calls of the prestigious Apple Blossom won by Zenyatta in 2010 and Havre de Grace this year.